We were lucky to catch up with C.R. Rice recently and have shared our conversation below.

C.R., thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

This is actually something I have spent a lot of time thinking about recently and I realized it actually has a very simple answer. I am going to build a legacy that brings escape and wonder. A selection of wonderful realms, spurred on by magic and lunacy, that are still identifiable and give an alternate perspective. That’s what I hope to be remembered for.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

For those of you that don’t know me yet, my pen name is C.R. Rice and I am a young adult dark metaphysical fantasy author. At least for now… Being an author isn’t really something I ever thought I wanted to do, but I love to create different worlds and escape into them. After a rather forceful nudge off the cliff, my husband convinced me to submit to a publisher and, much to my surprise and delight, they really enjoyed my story.
I currently have 5 Novellas and 4 Novels in the Realm Series out. Which is still an incredible thing to say.
The Realm series is actually made up of 7 different realms, that will each have their own unique twist and expand all genres.
The current Realm is known as the Heart Realm and will wrap up with the last novel in December. It follows a girl named Averie, who has been haunted for years by a boy that she can see but never reach or hear. Until the night of her eighteenth birthday; when he shows up at her birthday party and tells her she is the lost heir to a Realm that is being torn apart by a madman known as the Betrayer. With it being her senior year of highschool, she tries to ignore all the crazy changes going on in her life, just trying to make it to prom and graduation. Then, because of a terrible situation, she is forced to make a rather loud entrance into the Realm where the Shadowed army begins to hunt her down.

One thing that is incredibly important to me as I immerse my readers into these Realms, is that I stay true to real reactions and consequences people face. My characters go through everything from falling in love to being betrayed and making mistakes, to having to live with the consequences that follow. Which I personally feel gets swept under the rug sometimes. I work hard to bring these characters to life while also leaving those voids that the readers can slide themselves into and feel like they are apart of the story as well.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My entire goal to writing, whether I knew it in the beginning or not, is and always will be to give readers of all ages and walks of life an escape from their own life. Even if its only for a few hundred pages. While also bringing an open perspective or new perspective to growing up and navigating the life you have created for yourself. Mistakes and regrets included. I think writing can sometimes gloss over or glamorize being able to leave the past in the past and go on with your life, especially in young adult. When in reality, it isn’t that easy and I think my characters show a more realistic and relatable reaction and life and everything that comes with it. So, that’s my mission. To bring a more realistic reality to situations, with a magical flare.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an author is meeting a reader, new to the Realm or visiting again, that is excited to read what I made and keep coming back. Having readers and fans reach out and ask questions or beg for the next book or complain about a character they don’t like is the best, coolest experience of my life as an author. Holding the book I spent so much time on is pretty cool too.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.authorcrrice.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/authorcrrice
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorcrrice
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/authorcrrice

Image Credits
Harley Quinn Cosplay by @birthofthefae_novel aka Danielle M. Orsino